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Avoiding Franchise Funding Mistakes – The Top 3 Pitfalls

August 11, 2015

avoiding-franchis-funding-mistakesA potential franchisee seriously interested in becoming an entrepreneur will take several demonstrative steps throughout the ownership process. In this post, we focus on the financing options available to the franchisee. It is our hope that you will be able to avoid potential mistakes and find a suitable solution which matches up perfectly with your own financial position.

Allow us to introduce to you the Top-3 Pitfalls of franchise funding. Take heart, because making the right decisions will illuminate a path to success and growth. A costly mistake could jeopardize your break-even possibilities and even hamper your effort to achieve viability in the marketplace. Some of what you are about to read is just plain common sense, but you may find just find the “gem that keeps you out of a jam!”

Pitfall Number One – “Pump Your Brakes”

You’ve spent the requisite time in choosing to meet with a qualified franchise consultancy like FranNet, whose sole focus is matching the right opportunity with the right option just for you. You believe in the franchise concept, and you did your due diligence through the Franchise Disclosure Document process. You have arrived at this point because you were both cautious and prudent with your time in researching the development of your soon-to-be franchise. It’s time to explore financing options, not hit the gas and floor it. Stay as focused and patient as you have been up to this point, never let your emotions override the necessity for exploring any and all financing options – even if you do feel close to the finish line.  (more…)

Small Business Payments Toolkit – Top 5 Takeaways

July 17, 2015
By Mary Hughes

Small Business Payments ToolkitThe Remittance Coalition has released the first volume of the Small Business Payments Toolkit, which is intended to encourage the adoption of electronic business-to-business payments and remittance information exchanges by small businesses.  Many small businesses continue to over-rely on paper checks, which are labor-intensive, expensive and prone to fraud.  The Remittance Coalition is a group of payments industry stakeholders (including Federal Reserve Banks) that works to increase the efficiency of business-to-business (B2B) payments made and reconciled by US businesses.  The toolkit provides a host of useful information that can be leveraged by small businesses, SBDC consultants and trainers, financial institutions, vendors, and anyone interested in learning more about payments.

Here are the top five takeaways from the Small Business Payments Toolkit:

1. Adopting B2B electronic payments and remittance information exchanges may make life easier for small business owners

Although it may not currently be a top priority, small businesses that choose to enhance the efficiency of their payments processes can yield benefits in a number of ways:  (more…)

A Must-read To-do List for Anyone Looking to Start A Crowdfunding Campaign

August 7, 2014

As the crowdfunding industry continues to explode around the world we still find too many campaigns failing and people desperately seeking help once they see no funds appear in their coffers after launching.

People need to know that it’s hard work to be successful at crowdfunding, but if you’re willing to learn (and get prepared ahead of time), you can make incredible things happen with the right knowledge and tools, some of which are found here:

“Win the crowd and you’ll win your freedom.” – Gladiator.

You and your business will need to attract followers, fans and positive awareness. This is not “If you build it they will come” scenario, but more like “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it make a sound?” In this sense, you’ll need to make a lot of carefully calibrated noises in the presence of many receptive people.  (more…)

5 Steps to Practice Safe Crowdfunding

August 5, 2014

Money doesn’t grow on trees. Hard work is the key to success. You would be hard pressed to find someone who hadn’t heard these lines growing up. But some of these erstwhile truisms need altering ever since online crowdfunding has taken the world by storm. For a case in point, look at the man who managed to raise more than $50,000 on Indiegogo to make potato salad. Potato salad! He raised $49,990 more than his $10 goal.

This example is to illustrate that people on the Internet have money to spend. But unlike a simplistic campaign that goes viral, designing a legitimate campaign is hard work. If you are looking to raise capital to launch a product, then crowdfunding might be right for you; and with a little patience, and by following the steps below, it will have definitely been worth the effort. You’ll be practicing safe crowdfunding in no time!

Step 1: Identify your intellectual property

First things first: identify your intellectual property (IP). IP is not limited to the tech industry; any and every company has IP, including yours. Launching an idea into the world exposes you to more than just some wise guys leaving disparaging comments. It enables anyone to access your campaign, and with enough capital, that person can recreate your product if you haven’t taken the necessary steps to protect it. If they successfully bring it to market before you, then you can kiss your baby goodbye.  (more…)

Lessons Learned From This Small Business Growth Story

May 26, 2014

It’s not just New Yorkers that are crazed about bagels. Turns out, Oregonians are also very into their bagels and they let their top vendors know it. Recently, we had a chance to speak with the owner of Spielman Bagels to learn more about the company and its substantial growth over the past year.

Spielman Bagels is based out of Portland, Oregon. However, their story begins in a suburban town called Hillsboro, where the company was based out of for 17 years. It was not until December 2011, that the owner, Rick Spielman, decided to move to a small 720 square foot space on SE Division Street in Portland, Oregon, with sights on the big city foot traffic. At the time, coffee was the core product and the goal was only to make a dozen bagels a day.

When they first moved to Portland, Kettleman’s was the major bagel shop in the area. They were producing over 12,000 bagels a day or a thousand times as many as Spielman Bagels. However, that didn’t last. The Einstein bagel chain stepped in and purchased Kettleman’s and changed their prized recipe. That ended up being a big mistake as customer demand dropped significantly. The result was that bagel lovers in the area and the local Press began looking for the, “best new bagel shop.” Soon, Spielman’s became the go to bagel shop in town. They received an explosion of interest and the business soon expanded from producing 12 bagels a day to now 500 bagels per day.  (more…)